1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to oral an dental care preparations containing polysaccharide-splitting enzymes and surfactants which do not damage these enzymes.
2. Statement of Related Art
Toothpastes, toothpowders and mouthwashes above all are used to care for the teeth, the gums and the oral cavity. These products normally contain surfactants to enhance the cleaning effect of the toothbrush and the abrasives present in toothpastes and toothpowders. In addition, oral and dental care preparations generally contain active substances for hardening the dental enamel and controlling tartar and plaque (bacterial coatings). It is known that dextrans, which are formed by bacterial polymerization from glucose, play an important part in the formation of plaque, so that it has repeatedly been proposed to add enzymes having a polysaccharide-splitting effect, particularly dextranase, to oral and dental care preparations to disrupt the mechanism responsible for the formation of plaque or to redissolve freshly formed coatings (cf. JADA, Vol. 82, Jan. 1971, 123-141, GB 1,202,629).
It is also known that many surfactants inhibit the effect of enzymes so that special surfactants more compatible with enzymes have already been proposed for use in oral and dental care preparations containing dextranase. According to GB 1,319,423, N-lauroyloxyethyl sulfoacetamide potassium salt is said to be compatible with dextranase. Many other patent applications propose stabilizing additives to protect the dextranase against damage by surfactants.